Browse listings of B&B, Home Exchange, Vacation Rentals (furnished apartments, villas, cottages, condos, farmhouses and other types of accommodations) of Switzerland:
Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to Switzerland
- Time ZoneGMT/UTC +1
- Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Weights & measures: Metric
- Currency Swiss Franc (Swf)
- Country Dialing Code: 41
Must See - Properties on UNESCO World Heritage List by
- Old City of Berne
- Convent of St Gall
- Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair
- Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-town of Bellinzone
- Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn
- Monte San Giorgio
Switzerland
Location
Central Europe, east of France, north of Italy
Capital
Bern
Population
7,489,370 (July 2005 est.)
Regions
Switzerland consists of 26 cantons (cantons, singular - canton in French; cantoni, singular - cantone in Italian; kantone, singular - kanton in German)
Aargau, Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden, Appenzell Inner-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich
Climate
Temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers.
Ethnic groups
German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%
Religions
Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, Muslim 4.3%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)
Languages
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census)
note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national languages, but only the first three are official languages
Government type
Formally a confederation, but similar in structure to a federal republic
Background
The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. Switzerland's sovreignty and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers, and the country was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations, but retains a strong commitment to neutrality
Visitor's Impressions
If you would like to share your experiences of traveling to Switzerland or to other countries, please send us your article and we will gladly post it at this site.
